Rangers

Rangers Lose 7th Straight, 5-2 To Angels

ARLINGTON, TX – JULY 12: Jered Weaver #36 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim throws in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington on July 12, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images)

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Howie Kendrick celebrated his 31st birthday with three hits, including an RBI single during a four-run sixth inning as the Los Angeles Angels sent the Texas Rangers to their seventh straight loss, 5-2 on Saturday night.

Kendrick’s third single tied it at 2 in the sixth. The Angels chased Texas starter Miles Mikolas (0-2) and pulled away for their ninth win in 10 games.

The Rangers have dropped 21 of 24. They have the worst winning percentage in the majors, .404 with their 38-56 record.

Jered Weaver (10-6) went seven innings, giving up two runs and four hits. He appeared to have no issues five days after leaving his previous start after only two innings because of tightness in his lower back.

Joe Smith got his 14th save in 18 chances with a perfect ninth. It was his ninth consecutive appearance of at least an inning without allowing a hit.

Angels left fielder Collin Cowgill left the game with blood pouring from the bridge of his nose after he was struck in the face by a pitch when he squared to bunt in the eighth. He immediately put his hand over his face and started walking toward the dugout.

The Angels said he got stitches and then was taken to a hospital for further evaluation.

The pitch by Matt West went over the bat and appeared to hit Cowgill flush on the face. It wasn’t clear if the ball tipped off the bat before hitting Cowgill. Efren Navarro finished the at-bat and drew a walk.

David Freese hit a go-ahead single in the sixth. Hank Conger then had a two-run double.

Mikolas allowed five runs over 5 2-3 innings in his third career start. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.

Texas led 2-0 in the second after Carlos Pena had a one-out double and Robinson Chirinos was hit by a pitch. No. 9 batter Rougned Odor hit an RBI double before Chirinos came home on a groundout by Shin-Soo Choo.

Conger reached on an error by Pena at first base to start the third. Conger scored on a sacrifice fly by Albert Pujols with the bases loaded, with rookie left fielder Jake Smolinski making a diving catch fully extended in the left-center field gap to prevent more runs from scoring.

An inning earlier, Smolinski made a diving backhanded catch to take a hit away from Josh Hamilton.